Abstract

Laminar flow over a cube near a plane wall is numerically investigated in order to understand the effects of the cube-wall gap on the flow characteristics as well as the drag and lift coefficients. The main focus is placed on the three-dimensional vortical structures and its relation to the lift force applied on the cube. Numerical simulations are performed for the Reynolds numbers between 100 and 300, covering several different flow regimes. Without a wall nearby, the flow at Re=100 is planar symmetric with no vortical structure in the wake. However, when the wall is located close to the cube, a pair of streamwise vortices is induced behind the cube. At Re=250, the wall strengthens the existing streamwise vortices and elongates them in the streamwise direction. As a result, the lift coefficients at Re=100 and 250 increase as the cube-wall gap decreases. On the other hand, without a wall, vortex shedding takes place at Re=300 in the form of a hairpin vortex whose strength changes in time. The head of hairpin vortex or loop vortex, which is closely related to the lift force, seems to disappear due to the nearby wall. Therefore, unlike at Re=100 and 250, the lift coefficient tends to decrease more or less as the cube approaches the wall.

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